Fire on Banfil St - Help Maceo & Yoruba's Family

Thank you for making a donation to the family of Maceo Jackson and Yoruba Scott in response to the horrific fire that took their pets, terrorized their children and made their family homeless for the foreseeable future (details below). My name is Sam Johnson. I am working with a group of neighbors doing our part to support Maceo and Yoruba until they can return to their home.

Please donate as much as you are able. While we don't yet know the final cost of this tragedy, their emergency recovery coordinator gave us a rough estimate of $15,000 for the family to replace their belongings and rebuild their home. He also cautioned that number could easily balloon depending on their home insurance assessment. Regardless, the house is currently condemned and the Jackson/Scott family is looking at months of displacement and hardship ahead of them.


I am sharing the circumstances in great detail in the hope that you understand how devastating this is for our neighborhood and give generously to Maceo and Yoruba. If you are unable to contribute financially, please reach out with other donations.

The fire occurred Saturday morning, February 6th 2021. I watched in confusion and then horror from across Banfil Street as it ruined Maceo and Yoruba’s home in a matter of minutes. The first I saw of it was Maceo limping (he has a disability) in a panic with a 5 gallon pail from our neighbor Sara’s house to his own. It wasn’t just his demeanor that caught my eye, but the fact that he had no coat or shoes on. The temperature Saturday morning was 0 degrees Fahrenheit. My confusion grew as his family spilled out of the house onto their front porch as he bravely stormed back inside. His ten and seventeen year old sons were in shorts and t-shirts. A visiting family member was desperately wrapping twin infant girls in a blanket to protect them against the cold.

I called out to my fiancée, “Something strange is happening over at Maceo and Yoruba’s place.” As we looked on she saw smoke begin to billow from the roof. “Oh my god, their house is on fire!” she exclaimed. I rushed to find one of our fire extinguishers and raced out the door. I tested the extinguisher as I crossed the street and found to my horror I had grabbed an old one and it had depressurized. It was useless.

When I got to Maceo’s open front door the children had already left to shelter in our neighbor Sara’s home. Maceo was in just his socks and tank top still trying to get up to the second floor with a bucket of water. By that time there was an impenetrable wall of ominous churning black smoke at the top of the stairs. I could hear flames crackling around the corner. Asking how I could help, he told me everyone was safe out of the house and the fire department was on their way. He didn’t know what else could be done. The fire was already out of control on the second floor by the time he was aware of it and the emergency contact button on his security system hadn’t seemed to work which took his attention away for precious minutes while the fire grew beyond anything a bucket or extinguisher could take care of. The fire was still isolated in the front room of the second floor so I asked if there was anything of value I could grab for him or maybe get coats for the kids. But he just shook his head in defeat, “it’s all on the second floor….”

We backed out of the house for our safety as the fire department pulled up. Maceo needed my phone to contact other family members out on errands. I went to grab him a coat. More neighbors came out offering help. With nothing else to be done, Maceo went to check on his family and be interviewed by the fire chief and emergency recovery coordinator while the firefighters rushed headlong into the black smoke and we watched as the water from their hoses blew out the second floor windows, sending glass spraying across the street and acrid smoke gushing into the air.

Helpless from our front door, my fiancée and I were trying to document the scene as we saw Yoruba come rushing down our street which had been blocked by emergency personnel. She was sobbing as a firefighter directed her through the crowd to see her home and find her family. She was shaking with grief and struggled to navigate the snow and ice between her and her family waiting inside our neighbor Sara’s house. Yoruba’s family had lived here for more than 20 years. It had been her mother’s home before that. Her grief in that moment is difficult to fathom.

We learned later from Maceo and Yoruba what happened. He caught me up as he returned my jacket and phone, struggling between stating the facts very stoically and being overwhelmed by tears as he questioned what he could have done differently. The firefighters told them it was an electrical fire. It had started in the boys’ room, probably while the boys were downstairs having breakfast. The boys lost everything but the clothes on their backs.

The emergency recovery coordinator allowed Maceo inside the home to survey the losses and invited me in also. The second floor was black with soot and the boys’ room was a total loss. The coordinator directed Maceo and some others to begin bagging everything up for disposal. He said at the end of the day, the insurance company has control over what the family is reimbursed for their losses. The things that are difficult to quantify (such as most of the boys' possessions) would either be overlooked or not match the cost of their replacement. His rough estimate of losses was $15k after insurance and warned Maceo’s and Yoruba's family could be homeless for 6+ months.

Things quieted down throughout the day and the crowds dispersed. Maceo and Yoruba’s family left to stay at an emergency shelter. It had been a few hours but I saw the firetrucks return and firemen enter the house again. Maceo and Yoruba returned as well. Confused, I went out to ask what happened. Yoruba talked to me this time. She was in a daze but managed to inform me that the firefighters didn’t know there were pets in the house needing to be rescued. She and Maceo had been asked to come back and confirm the remains of their dog and cat.


Their losses are devastating. Many neighbors are looking for ways to support them as they recover. I’ve never led an emergency fundraiser before but sit as chair of a small nonprofit and work as a grants administrator for the government. So I asked Yoruba and Maceo if I could put together a Gofundme for them. They agreed.

If you are still questioning how much to give or what will happen to the money, know that this fundraiser is entirely community led with 100% of the proceeds going to Yoruba and Maceo’s family. They need funds as soon as possible to get back on their feet and rebuild over the coming months. Anything you are able to give is greatly appreciated. Please also spread the word. I’ve found the West 7th neighborhood in Saint Paul is a tightly knit community and folks will come out to support one of our own if they know there’s need.

Thank you again for your donation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, requests for updates, or well-wishes. While the Jackson/Scott family is preoccupied dealing with their losses, I will forward your communications and provide updates as often as I am able.